Stoke Canon Church of England Primary School and Pre-School

Overview

Pupils enjoy learning and feel a strong sense of belonging, guided by Christian values that promote kindness and respect. The school delivers an ambitious curriculum with effective reading provision, ensuring pupils build confidence and comprehension. Leaders maintain high expectations for behaviour, resulting in calm, productive classrooms where bullying is rare and pupils feel safe.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate a strong sense of community, treating others with fairness and respect while welcoming new members.
• Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum accessible to all, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Reading is a clear priority; staff accurately model phonics sounds, and pupils confidently use this knowledge to decode unknown words.
• Staff effectively identify pupils causing concern, making timely referrals and ensuring vulnerable families receive necessary support.
• Governors and leaders share a clear understanding of development needs, with governors providing appropriate challenge and support.

Areas to improve

• In some subjects, teachers lack the expertise to break down learning into small enough steps, hindering pupils’ ability to build knowledge effectively.
• Early years staff do not always provide sufficient opportunities for children to consolidate learning, preventing them from deepening their understanding of important ideas.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff accurately recording concerns and pupils learning how to keep themselves safe online and in their daily lives.